I like animation, but it’s kind of hard to see in the theaters. During the summer, there are lots of kids (and parents) looking for something to do and animation is usually seen as kids’ stuff. I had an opportunity to see WALL-E in theaters because a friend of my parents recommended it to them. (I had been recommending animated fills to them for years with little success, but I digress.)

I had been hearing a lot about WALL-E because of the graphics. Pixar has been known for putting out good movies such as Monsters, Inc. When I heard that the first half of the movie was to rely primarily on graphics, I knew this was a movie to see in theaters.

The story goes that Earth has been abandoned for centuries. Humans have basically laid waste (literally) to the planet. The title character is a robot who is supposed to clean up all the trash that we’ve left behind. He’s actually the last in a series and is very lonely. He has a collection of stuff that he’s taken an interest in, such as a Rubik’s Cube and a few movies. He watches those movies and longs for that kind of interaction. Being that he’s the last functioning robot of any kind, his best hope for companionship is a roach who follows him around.

One day, a ship lands. WALL-E is elated. Hopefully, there are some people on board. Instead, we get a few more robots. These robots have been sent to see if Earth is livable again. This robot is called EVE. When WALL-E tries to approach, she defends herself with a laser. Not exactly the warm hello WALL-E was hoping for. She does warm up to him eventually, but she’s still mostly interested in her mission. Dialogue is still very sparse.

That changes when WALL-E shows EVE a plant. Her mission is complete. She signals the ship to come back just before going into hibernation. WALL-E freaks out. Is she damaged? Is she ok? Why won’t she say anything? He has to wait. He does and the ship comes back for her. Not knowing what else to do, WALL-E hitches a ride on her ship back to the cruise ship carrying humanity. Many things are revealed about what happened on Earth.

I figure I’ve given enough of a plot review. To say much more would ruin the movie, I think. I will say, though, that the movie is a tough sell with so little talking. I didn’t find it distracting at all, mostly because the rendering of Earth and WALL-E were both so good. You got to see a very detailed view of Earth in the future. Once on the ship, the people looked a little cartoonish. This was explained by the fact that the people had spent so much time in artificial gravity. (They had also become very lazy.)

I see by other reviews on the Epinions and elsewhere that there are detractors. This was a big risk for Pixar. There was no way of knowing if people would like it, as there really hasn’t been anything like that in a while. They pulled it off well. The only thing I found odd was the use of one live actor. Not a huge complaint, but it was a little distracting.

For those that are familiar with Pixar movies, there was one of their shorts in the beginning of the movie called Presto. It was about a magician with a magical hat and a hungry rabbit. The magician decided to withhold the carrot until after the act, but the rabbit was smart enough to get back. It was a very funny short and I’d hope that they include it on the DVD.

I give the movie five stars. This is a movie that both children and adults can enjoy, although I think there are certain things that children might not fully understand. (It’s mostly references that only adults would even understand.) If you get the chance to see WALL-E in theaters, please do so. It’s definitely worth the money.